— Floating Offshore Wind Norway's Next Offshore Boom?
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— Floating offshore wind Norway’s next offshore boom? 3 GW floating offshore wind by 2030 will cut Norwegian oil and gas industry emissions by one-third, contribute to emissions reduction in Europe, and presents a 5 billion USD potential for annual technology exports. — Floating offshore wind power presents a tremendous opportunity for Norway to cut emissions of greenhouse gases and at the same time develop renewable solutions that Norwegian businesses and cen- ters of expertise can deliver to a global market. Norway should aim to export at least 5 billion USD in equipment for the offshore energy industry by 2030, around ten percent of the world market. Achieving this requires a strong vision and a significant practice arena. 3 — Floating offshore wind Norway’s vision of producing 3 GW of floating This ambition requires a roadmap offshore power by 2030 and annual export reve- Floating wind turbines are both a new export op- nue of 5 billion USD of offshore-related equip- portunity as well as a tool to reduce overall Nor- ment can be achieved as follows: wegian emissions. By electrifying offshore oil and • 1 GW offshore wind power by electrifying the oil gas installations in the North Sea with floating and gas industry at the Norwegian continental wind turbines, the oil and gas industry can act as shelf, cutting greenhouse emissions, and open- a springboard for this new renewable technology ing the first areas for offshore wind farms. across the globe. The time to do this is now. • 1 GW offshore wind power by using existing and future power-from-shore connections to oil and Practice makes perfect. Framework conditions gas installations and connecting offshore are needed to achieve a sufficient volume of float- power grids. ing offshore turbine projects that can generate • 1 GW offshore wind power by connecting addi- cost reductions. Agreeance with neighbouring tional Norwegian offshore wind power to shore countries including joint plans for infrastructure and to the continent. is essential to ensure proper scale and cost con- — siderations are managed. By electrifying offshore oil and Norway’s vision of reaching 3 GW from offshore gas installations in the North Sea wind turbines by 2030 and 5 billion USD in export revenues is achievable. To reach this goal there with floating wind turbines, the needs to be adequate framework conditions from oil and gas industry can act as a the start. There needs to be a return for emis- sions reductions and the offshore oil and gas in- springboard for this new renewa- dustry needs to be able to receive the power. ble technology across the globe. 4 FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND - NORWAY’S NEXT OFFSHORE BOOM? — The concept for 3 GW offshore wind power by 2030 1 GW 2 GW 1 GW of offshore wind power can be achieved by Connection of offshore wind power grids and electrifying the Norwegian continental shelf power plants in hubs with an incipient expansion (NCS), cutting greenhouse emissions, and open- of an offshore electrical grid will make room for ing the first areas for offshore wind farms. Up to more floating wind turbines. Through greater 1,000 MW of gas-turbine generated power in pe- sharing of turbines and gas power plants, the troleum installations can be replaced with electri- percentage of wind power that can be used in- cal power from offshore wind power. Electrifica- creases and greenhouse emissions can be further tion will require various approaches and reduced. Connection to existing onshore installa- concepts. There will be some concepts where tions and expansion of new ones frees up even floating wind turbines supply single production more room. A platform with consistent 50 MW installations and other solutions with production power consumption and an onshore connection connected to multiple platforms. Equinor’s pro- capacity of 50 MW opens the way for connection posed “Hywind Tampen” consists of an 88 MW of up to 100 MW of wind power. wind farm that delivers to two different fields, Gullfaks and Snorre. Electrification will mean sig- 3 GW nificant emissions reductions in Norway and will Norway is adding new power cables to Germany help develop a new climate solution. Power gener- and England totaling 2.8 GW. An additional 1.4 GW ated from natural gas power plants on the NCS will go to Scotland, while renovation and poten- have higher costs than onshore power. Therefore, tial expansion of the oldest part of the Skagerrak floating wind turbines delivering power to a plat- connection between Norway and Denmark is un- form are therefore competing in a market where a der discussion. Best practice would be to have higher willingness to pay prevails. floating offshore wind power in Norway con- nected to the power grids in other countries. The completion of “Havsul” will contribute up to Norwegian wind turbines can be connected to 350 MW of fixed-foundation offshore wind power. other countries’ offshore wind projects that are Opening of areas in accordance with the Offshore connected to shore. An example of this would be Energy Act for commercial wind farms can add a the North Sea Wind Power Hub initiative, which few hundred MW more. involves the construction of an artificial island in the North Sea. 5 — Cutting emissions with (floating) wind power The current offshore oil and gas industry in Nor- NCS, ABB and Rystad Energy conducted a study in way is operated by either power from shore or by 2017 of the potential for a power hub in the Bar- local gas turbines. Production platforms on the ents Sea. Further development and future power Norwegian continental shelf that are electrified needs will depend on the extent to which new ar- and currently operating include Troll A, Valhall, eas and fields have opened to production, but Gjøa, Martin Linge, and Goliat. In October 2018, partial electrification with an output requirement Johan Sverdrup phase 1 was connected to the of 80–100 MW is realistic. electrical grid. Other fields on Utsira High will also receive power from shore. — Another means of delivering power from shore is Power can also be delivered from through floating wind turbines that supply one or floating wind turbines that supply more consumers. Equinor’s “Hywind Tampen” project will power both the Gullfaks and Snorre one or more consumers. fields. Flexible onboard gas power will thereby balance production with how much wind power is In a report from 2015b, Det Norske Veritas (DNV) available. Equinor has estimated that wind power discusses power inter-connection of different can thereby replace 35 percent of gas-turbine fields. This is being used at Ekofisk with good re- power. Integration (connection) between addi- sults. In this context DNV also points out the fol- tional fields and power generation plants will be lowing, “When operations are far from shore, able to increase this percentage as will connec- joint power generation, can supply a greater area. tion to land. Power generation can take place through the use of combined power plants and/or offshore wind Several studies have been conducted on electrifi- turbine farm.” cation of existing installations included in the area solutionsa. There is great uncertainty around With power from shore in the range of 800 to 900 the initiative cost for emissions reductions and MW, a realistic possibility to cut 3 to 4 million tons the potential is naturally dependent on the level of CO2 annually from existing fields has been re- of ambition. A common denominator among the ported. Equivalent power output from offshore studies carried out is that they point to the con- wind power will result in slightly lower reductions tinuous development of new technology that can in emissions in the range of 1–3 million tons of contribute to enabling the electrification of sev- CO2, and it will be necessary to coordinate power eral types of new installations, and that offshore between multiple installations to reach the upper wind power infrastructure can be used for other threshold of this range. Offshore wind in combi- purposes in the future. nation with power from shore will increase the potential for further emissions reductions. The reports show that we are dependent on an overall output just under 800 MW to the various a. Alternative power for the Norwegian continental shelf, Norwegian Oil Industry Association, 2007; Power from shore to the Norwegian parts of the NCS to ensure a minimum level of continental shelf, Norwegian Petroleum Directorate et al., 2008; Power electrification with reduction of 3 million tons of from shore to oil and gas platforms, Zero, 2011. b. Technological development and greenhouse gas emissions from the CO2. This entails partial electrification of the southern North Sea, middle North Sea, northern petroleum industry towards 2030 and a low emissions society by 2050, DNV, 2015. North Sea and Norwegian Sea. There will be vari- ous solutions for the individual fields and areas including electrification of either individual in- stallations, or multiple installations together. When it comes to the northernmost parts of the 6 FLOATING OFFSHORE WIND - NORWAY’S NEXT OFFSHORE BOOM? — Investing in floating wind turbines Floating offshore wind power presents the possibility of achieving major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel production while creating a market opportunity to develop new renewable solutions. Norway’s greenhouse gas emissions have been million tons per year. In such a case, this is equiva- relatively unchanged since 1990. The country has lent to roughly 5 percent of Norway’s total emis- had major emissions reductions from heating and sions. Potential reductions depend on cost, the conventional land-based industry. Proportion- type of solution, and to what extent this is con- ately large increases in emissions, primarily from nected with common networks in hubs and on- the petroleum industry, have meant that overall shore.